Rare Coin Articles

British Colonies

The British colonies were the first 13 states to be formed in the United States. Before the Declaration of Independence took place, the states were under the rule of the British. War broke out and on Fourth of July, the 13 colonies gained their independence and formed their own government and laws. It all started in the 1580s when Queen Elizabeth I of England gave Sir Walter Raleigh the right to create colonies in what is now known today as North America. The first piece of land was named Virginia after the Queen; she was called this because she was known as the virgin queen that never married. The first two attempts to set up the British colonies failed to take place. Then on the third try, which took place in 1587, it succeeded. The first to be born in the British colony was Virginia Dare.

After the British colonies were beginning to be settled, the Governor John White went back to England to collect supplies for the land. He came back in 1591 to find that the colony was gone. The only thing that was found was a post with Croatan written on it. There’s a Croatan Indian legend that claims the settlers became a part of the tribe. Others believe that the colony was ambushed and possibly killed by the Croatan tribe. The British often refer to this incident as The Lost Colony.

King James I then set up the Virginia Company of London in 1606. Their purpose was to find gold in Virginia and bring it back to England, but they never found any. The growth of population in America continued to grow as England allowed more and more settlers to move there. Then the British colonies were given the permission to create a government in 1619.